Changes to animal medicine controls
The planned changes include the removal of the general requirement on veterinary practitioners to clinically examine animals before prescribing.
At the same time, it is intended to retain the requirement for a ‘bona fide’ relationship between practitioner and client as the context within which prescriptions will be issued.
It is proposed that veterinary practitioners must in all cases issue written prescriptions and, if the practitioner supplies the medicine, he or she must issue the client with a separate invoice.
It is also proposed to remove the exception for intramammaries from the general rules on antibiotics and also to decouple intramammaries from controls under poisons legislation.
It is also proposed that prescribed veterinary medicines may, with certain exceptions, be supplied by licensed merchant outlets (with appropriately trained personnel) as well as by pharmacies and veterinarians. Such exceptions would, for example, apply to injectable antibiotics and sedatives.
The Irish Medicines Board is the designated competent authority for veterinary vaccines but the Minister for Agriculture and Food would continue to exercise control on the use of vaccines for certain diseases.
Mr Walsh said the proposed changes would refine and update controls in this area, which would improve enforcement and compliance.
